Letters To The Editor

Too much food went to waste

One picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, possibly a few thousand more.

A picture on the front of the July 6 Spokane-State section depicts a girl with “a face full of leftover apple pie.” This before four tons of pie was composted because it was refused by community groups after Fourth of July celebrations.

Someone was way off the mark.

Either they did not correctly estimate the number of people who would show up at the celebration or how much pie a person could eat, or maybe this culinary delicacy was not fit to eat. Or maybe this should be entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest waste of food.

In any case, four tons of anything, especially food, is way too much to throw into a hole. Reg Morgan Coulee Dam, Wash.

Gun seller upset by shootings

(My brother) Mike Carroll and the rest of our family are saddened by the senseless murders of the innocent people out at Fairchild.

Mike is a very religious person, and he is truly sorry for the families who lost their loved ones so tragically.

There is no possible way Mike could have predicted what Dean Mellberg (or any other gun buyer) was going to use that weapon for.

Mr. Tindell (Letters, June 28) seems to think Mike doesn’t care what happened out at the base and that he sold the gun to Mellberg to make an easy buck.

If Mr. Tindell had thought before he wrote, he would realize that you can’t always predict what people are going to do with guns or with any other type of weapon. Should we also ban baseball bats because we can’t predict whether they’ll be used for baseball or to club someone over the head?

Mike lost his job, and he always will feel terrible about what happened. But Mike is not an accomplice, as Mr. Tindell would like to believe. Tim Carroll Spokane

Tax dollars being wasted

It is difficult to feel positive about local government when certain issues keep coming up.

The freeholders are requesting another $100,000 to pay office expenses and to fund a study to determine whether taxes would increase if voters accepted the freeholder’s proposal to combine city and county government.

Every time I hear about consolidation of city and county resources I think of cost savings, not whether taxes will go up.

Another issue is the hiring of what appears to be a public relations adviser for the county commissioners. Two of the county commissioners want this new person and other county department managers to report directly to them.

Why do they need an outside consultant to review organizational structures and coordinate the flow of information between commissioners, the public and administrative departments? Since they claim to want more direct control over department managers, why not manage these functions themselves?

Commissioner Pat Mummey sees this new contract as a way to get top managers in government without hiring someone full time who may not work out. I see it as another opportunity for Mummey to hire a friend into a $7,500 per month position without that job being subject to open competition. I also see it as another opportunity for two of the county commissioners to add another person to the payroll because they don’t trust the present managers to do their jobs.

Good leadership would create an atmosphere in which present county employees could do the things that Mummey and Chilberg want to hire someone else to do. Bob Blum Spokane

Science center would be a plus

After having lived in Olympia for four years and being members of the Pacific Science Center during that time and two years since, we ardently support a Pacific Science Center in Spokane. The knowledge and exposure our son and his parents received from the exhibits, classes, etc., is immeasurable.

At the age of 4, our son had a curiosity about space, and the Science Center helped satisfy that curiosity and give him a thirst for more. The Mars exhibit was just one of the many educational exhibits we have enjoyed over the years. Our 4-year-old daughter is also now benefiting from the classes offered here in Spokane, as well as taking in the exhibits in Seattle, where we have gone at times solely to take in an exhibit.

We would love to have those advantages here in Spokane and to keep our money in Spokane. More importantly, shouldn’t we be offering the kind of enrichment offered by the Pacific Science Center to families living in the Inland Northwest?

If Spokane wants to be at the forefront of education in the Inland Northwest, then it needs to step up to the mark and fund a science center. Riverfront Park is an ideal location for such a facility. We fully support its development. John and Therese Covert Spokane

Slow down around Manito

As an employee of the Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, I see hundreds of cars drive past Manito Park on Grand Boulevard every day. And every day I see over 90 percent of those cars driving well over the 20 mph speed limit. This is extremely alarming for two reasons.

The first reason is that my co-workers and I work on and around the perimeter of the park and in many cases right up to the curb bordering Grand. Having cars pass us at speeds exceeding 20 mph is dangerous. While we take every precaution not to step in or fall into the street, there are no guarantees. It would be nice to know that passing cars could stop if necessary.

The second and most important reason is the people using the park, particularly the children. Every day they are there, running, biking and playing. All it takes to turn fun into tragedy is a stray ball, a wrong turn or a little horseplay.

While it may be just carelessness, the fact still remains that 5 mph can kill you. That’s a lesson we can’t afford to learn the hard way. Andrew Goss Spokane

Story left out important facts

In her July 6 article relating to the James Rivard trial, Bonnie Harris quotes statements made by Steve Matthews, the state’s prosecutor, who incidentally is running for Don Brockett’s position as Spokane County prosecutor. In spite of this one-sided writing, there is more to the real story than was revealed in the article.

Harris neglected to include some very important facts in her article. First, in the July 5 hearing, the state prevailed on a motion to suppress evidence showing that the victim had been under the influence of marijuana while he was skateboarding. Harris also failed to reveal that this accident occurred near midnight while the victim was carelessly skateboarding down the middle of a steep road after a rain shower.

I am sorry that Harris either was used or that she voluntarily loaned her services to further the political ambitions of Matthews. Either way, as a result of not taking the time to fully investigate the facts in her story, she has impaired Rivard’s opportunity for a fair trial. Kelley Flatters Seattle

Bamonte will restore integrity

Tony Bamonte has 25 years as a professional law enforcement specialist under his belt, including eight years on the Spokane police force. He served 12 years as sheriff of Pend Oreille County and has a distinguished military background.

His impressive academic achievements include a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University and a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Whitworth College.

We the people of Spokane have an opportunity to elect not only the most qualified and effective sheriff in our history; we have the opportunity to restore law enforcement integrity where it belongs.

The city and county of Spokane can’t afford to keep paying for the professional misdeeds of trigger-happy, evidence-tampering, womanizing law enforcement officers.

As sheriff, Tony Bamonte will work in the interests of the people and fight crime wherever he finds it. And if the dope dealer wears a badge, the law still applies.

The last thing Spokane County needs is the kind of corruption that attracts and holds the criminal element. W. Michael McGinty Spokane

Hunting not cruel or outdated

Ignorance is bliss, and hypocrisy is alive and well, as evidenced by Russ Sunriver of Sandpoint (Letters, July 5).

For your information, Mr. Sunriver, hunting is not a myth or a fable; it is a part of our history and the basis for survival of humans everywhere. To say that hunting has degenerated into a questionable sport shows that you have never hunted. Therefore, you should hide your ignorance of hunting rather than flaunt it as you casually dine on chicken, fish and beef as well as plants.

I might remind you that every time you open your mouth to eat it is at the cost of some living organism, whether plant or animal.

With a Washington state average of less than 20 percent success for elk hunting, I would rather be an elk and take my chances than herded into a corral and take a bullet between the eyes. Luckily, you do not have to watch as plants and animals are butchered for your table, but I can assure you they suffer the same fate as hunted animals.

As to the high-tech, high-velocity firearms used for hunting, has it ever occurred to you that a quick death is far more humane than the inadequate firearms of days gone by?

As for your sarcasm to combat veterans who have served to keep your country and your ignorant hypocrisy safe, I can only say you have embarrassed yourself beyond words. Douglas Scott Spokane

U.S. giving up rights

If Russ Sunriver, human-slaughter advocate, is typical of today’s philosopher, it is no wonder that our society is plagued with those who are acting out upon their fellow humans the very ideas expressed in his July 5 letter.

Such ideas led to national socialism in 1930s Germany. In 1933 the civil rights of the German citizenry were suspended. Animal rights were made part of the national policy and the way was opened to the Holocaust which destroyed millions of human lives.

There are many parallels between the political atmosphere in the United States today and Germany in the 1930s. The U.S. 1968 Firearms Control Act is practically a word-for-word translation of the 1938 Nazi Firearms Control Act. There was a free-love society in which gays and lesbians were encouraged to come out. They were identified and destroyed in the Holocaust along with others deemed to be politically incorrect.

Americans must not acquiesce to having their freedoms and traditions stripped from them in the name of a New World Order. Cherie Graves Newport, Wash.

Jail fails to deter killers

Rick Barclay wrote about not banning assault weapons, that guns kill people, people don’t kill people (Letters, July 5).

People who get assault weapons are just out to kill themselves after they kill all the people they can with their assault weapon. They don’t care about stiffer sentences or bad jail time.

We need to ban assault weapons. Period. Roberta Clemetson Spokane

Well-placed bullet stopped rampage

I feel compelled to address one or two points in George Wilson’s “Take away all the guns” (Letters, July 2).

First of all, I’m astonished at how many people seem to think that tougher laws, tighter restrictions or, in Mr. Wilson’s case, outright repeal of the right to bear arms will have any effect whatsoever on the criminal element in this country.

Criminals are, by definition, lawbreakers. Anyone who expects them to treat gun-control laws any differently is somehow missing the connection.

The sad truth is that the only people likely to give up their guns are law-abiding citizens, the very ones who need protection the most.

With the Fourth of July just past, how easily we forget that the right to bear arms is what won for all of us the freedom which that date celebrates. Historically, one of the surest steps toward an oppressive government or a radical dictatorship is the removal of the citizens’ ability to fight back.

I am not an National Rifle Association member. I’m not even a gun owner.

I am, however, giving serious thought to becoming both.

Criminals will always be able to acquire guns, even if the citizenry one day can’t.

No one should forget that Dean Mellberg’s bloody rampage through Fairchild’s base hospital and the killing he inflicted was, ironically, brought to a very decisive halt by a well-placed bullet. Jason Lee Spokane

Nation needs health care reform

I take issue with David Anthony’s June 27 letter, “Health care reform a big mistake.” Health care reform is not “foolery” but the most critical social legislation facing our country today.

Most Americans would like to have a bipartisan, universal health care reform bill passed this year. We are the only nation in the civilized world that doesn’t provide basic medical care for all of its citizens.

The United States has the finest doctors and the best technology in the world - but not for everyone. A health reform bill will be peace of mind for the up to 40 million people with no medical insurance and the millions more who have limited coverage.

Profit is insurance companies’ prime consideration. Polices are geared to covering well people.

Many policies have exclusions for pre-existing conditions, long-term care, prescription drugs and mental conditions.

One woman told me she paid $500 out of pocket for prescription drugs from January to May. This is not uncommon.

Anthony points to the old familiar scarecrow: socialism.

Do any senior citizens wish to give up Social Security and Medicare? Both of these bills were passed in Congress while critics screamed “socialized medicine!”

On the welfare issue, once a good, comprehensive health reform bill is in place, many people on welfare will be encouraged to take jobs because they know their families will have health insurance. Presently many companies do not provide this to new employees.

Finally, Hillary Clinton is a gutsy lady with a compassionate cause whose time has come - and her services are free. Jo Hendricks Spokane

Gays already enjoy equal rights

In response to “Anti-gay initiative invites worse” (Letters, June 26), I believe Randy Johnson is mistaken in his assertions about the so-called “anti-gay initiatives.”

The initiatives being presented to the public for consideration maintain that homosexuals should not be granted minority status. As stated by law, in order for a group of people to achieve minority status, they must meet three requirements:

The group must have unchangeable characteristics that define them as an insular and discrete group, such as race or gender.

Homosexuality is defined as a behavior by the act of sex with members of the same sex. There is no conclusive evidence that homosexuality is predetermined.

Therefore, conduct cannot be considered an immutable characteristic.

The group must have suffered economic discrimination.

Homosexuals are not poverty-stricken people. Studies have shown that greater than 50 percent of homosexuals are college graduates and that many are employed in professional positions.

The group must demonstrate that it is politically powerless.

In 1992, the homosexual movement donated $3.4 million to Clinton’s campaign, making it one of the most financially powerful political forces in America today.

Homosexuals will not suffer a loss of equal rights should minority status be denied. They already enjoy equal standing under the law.

Their behavior should not dictate special privileges; no one should have special rights or privileges based on their sexual conduct. Vicky Minden Newport, Wash.

Term limits argument misses mark

I am confused by the point of view expressed in your July 1 editorial.

D.F. Oliveria wrote, “The issue of term limits isn’t about getting rid of our crummy politician. It’s about getting rid of your crummy politician.”

Dan Rostenkowski from Illinois is used as an example.

Unfortunately, term limits in the state of Washington will not affect the re-election of Rostenkowski in Illinois. The fact is, term limits here are about our politicians, and if we so choose, we can limit Tom Foley’s tenure but not Dan Rostenkowski’s.

We can argue the value of Foley’s power and influence for our state, but don’t try to fool us by tossing out some irrelevant, emotional appeal about politicians from the Midwest, where there are not term limits. David Lobdell Spokane